Grossmont board says Stieringer quit

LA MESA  Grossmont Healthcare District board members on Monday refused to allow longtime colleague Jim Stieringer to remain on the panel, despite his request to rescind his recently announced resignation.

Following a brief closed-door session, the board reported it had voted 4-0 to fill a vacancy in light of a Nov. 5 letter in which Stieringer said he was retiring after 18 years with the La Mesa agency.

The board said the letter met the legal requirements of a resignation. "It is in writing, addressed to the board, dated and demonstrates a clear and express intent to immediately vacate his position... ," read a statement issued by the board.

The 69-year-old La Mesa resident said he wrote the letter because he planned to apply for a $60,000-a-year job with the district. But he moved last week to withdraw the resignation after the board declined to consider him for the staff job.

Stieringer said he was disappointed, but not surprised by the board decision to not allow him to stay on the board. He said he believes it allowed itself to be cowed by critics who believe the district's initial handling of the matter smacked of favoritism.

He said his interest in the district job was above-board and that he would have been a good candidate for the projects liaison monitor position, given his background in contracts and management.

"I love the district. I love my former colleagues," he said. But, he added, "they could have showed a little more courage."

Citizen activist Ray Lutz believes Stieringer's Nov. 5 announcement was part of an insider deal orchestrated to give him the liaison job.

Stieringer and district CEO Barry Jantz said that was never the case. Jantz said last week that the job will remain unfilled.

He said the board will move to fill the vacant board seat by early January. Board members receive no more than $500 a month, depending on the number of meetings they attend.

Given his longevity on the board, Stieringer is eligible for an estimated $3,240 annual pension. If he had served in the liaison post for at least one year, he would have been eligible for a substantially higher pension because it would have been calculated based in part on the job's $60,000 annual pay.

Lutz believes the chance of a higher pension was a driving factor for Stieringer.

Stieringer said that's not true. The retired contracts manager said he wanted the job because he thought he would be a good fit.

A 1994 California law placed restrictions on public pensions for those elected to special districts, like health care boards. The law does not apply to those elected prior to that year.

Stieringer has been elected to the board five times, starting in 1992. In the mid-1990s, he helped negotiate a new operating lease for Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa in the wake of concerns that the then-existing lease was deeply flawed and led to conflicts of interests.